Insulated file cabinet



Sept. 6, 1932. c. F. WOLTERS 1,876,192

' INSULATED FILE CABINET Filed March 18, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet l WWWA 13:91 2 I 16] 7 7 M W 7'97 Q Ina/enfor- C d/Z [why- Sept. 6, 1932. c wo s 1,876,192

INSULATED FILE CABINET Filed March 18. 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet Z Inventor Carl F Walters Sept. 6, 1932. c. F. WOLTERS 1,876,192

INSULATED FILLE CABINET Filed March 18, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 [nzrenfar Carl F Woltens b M A mam P 6, 1932- c. F. WOLTERS INSULATED FILE CABIkET Filed March 18. 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 lm enfor Carl Fit/01156145 Sept. 6, 1932. c.. F. WOLTERS 1,876,192

INSULATED FILE CABINET Filed March 18, 19 27 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 'j Inventor C'arl F K 01112125 Patented Sept. 6, 1932 CARL woLTnRs or MARIETTA, fo nro, ASSIGNOR, BY. MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, To ammemoir RAND r m, or NEWZYORK, N. Y., A conron urron or DELAWARE i sum s FILE cABmm 1 This invention relates to file cabinets and has reference l more particularly-to, insulated file cabinets for thereception of index trays.

It is desirable to have index trays for hold-' ing overlapping index cards encased in an insulated cabinet which-is proof against fire and burglars. The best-form of door for such an insulated cabinet is one which is hinged v at the bottom so as to swing outwardlyand C downwardly to horizontal position, in which position the door serves as a support for the ends of the trays when they are moved'out,

of the cabinet andswung downwardly. Due

, to 'the heavy insulated constructionof the 1:; door, trouble has been experienced due to its accidental dropping and breaking loose from 1 its hinges. a

An object of this invention therefore is to provide a' cabinet for a seriesof superposed and proof 20"index trays which is insulated against'fire and burglars. v

' Another object of the invention is to provide a cabinet for indextrays'in which the heavy insulated'door'is counterbalanced t its hinges by acci door of the cabinet' swings outwardly and.

" downwardly and then is transl atedjiinder the bottom of the cabinet to reduce thejoverhang and space occupied by .the door. 1

A still further object of the'invention to pyprovide an insulated tray cabinetin which the insulated door is held in'closefd position by improved locking means; also toimpr'ove cabinets 1n other respects hereinafter specitied and claim'edu 1 4.1 Reference is to-be hadto accompanying.

. Application'filed March is, 1927. Serial No. 17 ,517.

drawings forming: a part of this specification,

in which,

Fig. l is a front elevation of improved file cabinet with one door open,

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section throughthe file cabinet with a door open,

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevation through the file cabinet showing the door counterbalancing device, a

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation showing the slide member,

Fig. 5 is afragmentary sectional elevation" through the-file cabinet with the door open, Fig. 6 isa sectional view through the file cabinet on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5,

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary elevation of the cable connection with the cabinet,

- Fig. 8 is a perspective viewof the cable pulley connections with the counterbalancing springs, I

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view through the door track,

Fig. 10 is a sectional perspective view of a modified form of file cabinet and door,

Fig.11 is a longitudinalfragmentary sectional view' through the file cabinet shown inFig.10,

"Fig. "12-is a perspective, fragmentary view. of another type of door device,

Fig. 13 is a transverse sectional view through the door device shown in Fig. 12,

'Fig. JAE-is a perspective fragmentary view of still another form of door device,

Fig. 15'is'a sectional fragmentary elevation of a cable'connection used with the door devices shown in Figures 12, 13 and 14.

Fig. 16 is-a plan, fragmentary view of 'index holders in a'tray, and 9 Fig. 17 is sectionalview through the tray I v v .85

shown in Fig. 16.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 15 indicates the moldedfcase or container of the cabinet, which is preferably composed largely of gypsum from which the free moisture has been expelled by drying. This molded dust.

In order to reinforce the molded insulation in case of fire and as a resistance to burglar tools, steel ,reinforclng members 16 are embedded in the insulation at the time of molding, and this reinforcing may take the form of expanded man. -After the insulation 15 is molded and dried, it isslipped into aspecially formed steel or other metal outer shell 17 which is usually coated with baked enamel inside and out. This steel sheet 17 is for thepurpose of causing the steam formed in the insulation during a severe fire to bedire-cted' into the inside of the file cabinet to reduce the temperature inside the cabinet'andprevent charring of the papers and index cards contain'edtherein. The steel shell 17 also gives a pleasing appearance to the outside of the cabinet.

:The cabinet may conveniently be formed in duplicate as shown in Fig. 1, with a partition 18 dividing the cabinet into two compartments, each of which is adapted to receivea and an'open front side 23. An insulated door 24 is provided at its lower end with a hinge sheet metaltraycabinet 19 of standard design. 7 This traycabinet 19' is constructed to receive a series of superposed index trays'20,

L each of which contains aseriesof overlapping 'indeX'carols or cardholders 20a having lugs 20?) engaging vtr'a-y flanges 200-as is well known in the art. Each tray20 has, a hinged tailpiece 21 which slides in suitable guides in the cabinet 19 and is adapted, when the tray is pulled outwardly to its extreme position, to permit the outer end of the tray to swingdownwardly to-expose the index cards in convenient position for ready reference.

The insulated cabinet 15 has a bottom 22 and said dooris adapted to normally close the open side 23 of the insulated cabinet 15 so as to prevent the removal of the trays 2O from the cabinets15 and 19. The door 24 is provided with interfitting flanges '26 which cooperate with flanges 27' on the insulated cabinet 15 to providea substantially water and gas tight joint and closurefor the in-' "sulated-cabinet 15 in case-of fire.

p One side of .the h nge 25 is secured to a slide member 28-which is composed of sheet metal and is provided with rollers 29 *slidably received in guideways 30, the latter beingsecured to the lowerface of the, cabinet bottom 22.

A suitable lock 31 is provided to maintain thedoor 24 in closed position; This lock is provided with; a disc' 32between the faces of the door 24, 'anda pair of oppositely disposed lock bars 33 are pivotally connected to the disc 32 so that when handles 34 of the lock 31 are rotated, the bars 33 will be axially moved in opposite directions so as to take into slots 35 formed in the side walls of the cab inet 15 and maintain said door in closed position. A key may be then inserted in the locls and actuated so as to prevent unauthorized opening of said look.

When the lockis opened, the door 24 may be swung; outwardly and downwardly about its hinge 25 until said door is positioned in a substantially horizontal position. When at this horizontal position, the door may be translated in-Wardlyby pushing on its outer end, which causes the slide member 28 to move inwardly under the cabinet bottom until the rear of said slide member engages a stop 36 at the back of the cabinet. The door may then be in a position as shown in Fig. 2 in which the door does not extend out far enough to occupy an abnormal amount of'floor space, but yetextends out far enough toserve as a rest or support forthe free end of the trays 20 Wh'enithey are swung downwardly into reference position. A track 37 is provided on the frontsurface of the door below the lock 31 which is adapted to slide along achanneled frame 38 of the cabinet. 15- so as to prevent marring of the enamel on the frontsurface of said door 24. 4 v

The door 24 is massive in, construction because of the'fact that it is formed of molded insulation which has considerable weight. The danger exist'stherefor that if the door is accidentally dropped" from a vertical to a. horizontal position, the momentum of the falling door will break it loose from its hinge 25. It is therefore desirable to provide a eounterbalancing means'for the door 24 to an enlarged head. A clip 42 having a bayonet slot 43 is secured to the end of cable 39:in

any suitable way such as by soldering 44.

This detachable connection of-the end of the cable 39 with door 24 makes it possible to easily assemble'the cable to said door when under the tension of counterbalancing springs to he] hereinafter described. The opposite end of the cable 39 is provided with a clip '42 and is attached to a part of the cabinet 15 by means of a pin 46.

The counterbalancing means associated with the cable 39, in the embodiment'shown, consists of a plurality of coil springs 47, each of which is secured at its lower end to a clip or bracket 48 secured to the cabinet 15. The

upper ends of the springs 47 are connectedto door. .Ordinarily the tension of the springs 47 is so adjusted that normallythe door 24 lugs 49 formed on a pulley bracket 50. The bracket 50 has an 'outstanding flange 51 formed with an aperture 52 through which extends a U-shaped pulley, holder 53, the

flatter having. outstanding stop flanges 54 adapted to engage the flange 51 and resist the tension of the springs 47 A pulley shaft 55* extends through the legs of the pulley holder 53 so as to rotatably connect a pulley is opened and the handle 34 rotated, the door 24-will swing downwardly and at the same time the spring 47 will be extended and an increasingly large resisting force will be applied through cable 39 to the pin 41 on door 24 to prevent the sudden dropping of said will be'held'at an angle intermediate the verti+ cal and horizontal by'said springs, and it will be necessary for theoperator to apply a man'- 'iual downward pressure to the end of the door 24 in order to. cause it to be lowered to horizontal position. WVhen the door is moved to horizontal position, the tension on the cable 39 which then extends at a considerableangle r'lto the vertical, will tend to slide the door to the right as seen in Fig. 5, which also causes the'slide member 28 to move to the right with the rollers 29 rolling on guideWays 30, until the rear of said slide member'is engaged by I stop. 36.

In the modified formshown in Figs. 10 and 11 the door 24a is hingedly connected by hinge directly to the bottom 61 of the cabinet. In order toavoid the use of counterbalancing means, the door 24a is provided with a device to stop its downward movement atan angle of about thirty degrees to the vertical, as shown in Fig. 11, so that fur. ther .downward movement must be accom plished after release by the operator of the control device. This control'device consists of an offset lever or link 62 pivoted at one end to a bracket 63 secured to an edge of the door 24a. Theopposite end of lever 62 is J provided with a stud 64 which extends outwardly into a cam slot 65 formed in the wall of the cabinet 15a. 7 This cam slot 65 is provided intermediate its ends with a hook 66 which is adapted to engage the stud 64 as 'saidstud slides forwardly so as to check or stopthe downward movement of said door in the position shown in Fig. 11 as above described. It is now necessary for the operator to lift the door slightly and then raise the free end of lever 62 and stud 64 until said cupies.

the construction shown in Fig. 2, must be of stud is released from hook 66, after which the downward movement of the door can'be continuedunder the control ofthe operator. I Under certainconditions the overhang of the door 24, as shown in Fig. 2, is objectionablel because of .the floor space which it oc- .However, the slide member 28 in sufficient length that when the door'24 is fully extended in its horizontal'position, littleor no side play takes place in the door, which would indicate defective workmanship to a user. For this condition, therefore it is necessary to shorten the length of the slide member 28, as shown in Figs. 12 and 13, or

to provide a collapsing slide member, as

shown in Fig. 14.. I 1

In the device shown in Fig." 12, the slide member 68 is considerably shorter than the slide member 28andat its forward end is provided with a hinge shaft 69 passing,

through suitable'loops'7O on the forward end of said slide member 68.

Other loops 71= secured to a door 72, shown in dot and dash lines of Fig. 12,also extend'around the shaft 69 so as to form a hinge'connection between slide member 68 and door 72 and to rotatablysupport said shaft 69.

Channel tracks 73 are secured to the inside walls of the insulated cabinet 15, said' channel tracks being substantially U-shaped in crosssection with the legs of the U ex. tending substantially horizontally. The in her edge of each-of the lower legs 74 of the channels 73 is provided with an upstanding flange-75, on' the upper edge of which is formed rack teeth/76. On each of the outer ends ofshaft 69, is rotatably mounted a roller 77, prevented from movement longitudinally of the" shaft 69 bya shoulder 7 8forme'd on said shaft on one side of each roller77 and by a head 79 on said shaft formed on the other side of each roller 77. Inside of each roller 77 is a pinion 80 rigidlysecured to theshaft 69, the outer diameter of said pinion being smaller than the diameter of each roller 77, so that the roller 77 willroll on the channel leg or track 74 and position the pin- .ion 80 at such height above therack teeth 76 that the teeth of saidpinion will mesh with said rack teeth 76 without'binding. At the rear of the slide member 68 is provided another shaft 81which is parallel to the shaft 69 and has rollers 82 rotatably mounted at; each end soas to r'oll'on tracks 74. It is thus 7 seenthat when the door is fully extended.

and in a horizontal position, side play of the door will be prevented by engagement of the pinions 80 with. the racks 7 6, the pinions be-' ing rigidly connected through shaft 69.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. I

14, a folding slide member is shown which is composed of a plurality of cross bars 83 and 84. On the outer ends of each of said bars 83'and 84 are rotatably mounted rollers which are adapted to roll in a track 86 formed on U-shaped track members 87 which are similar to members 83 except that the upstanding flange 88 is not provided with rack teeth and serves merelyto confine the rollers 85 on the tracks 86. The bars 83 and 84 are connected by lazy tong links 89, said links being preferably four in number and being connected at one end'to one of the bars 83.01' 84 while the other ends of said links are pivoted together in pairs by means of pins 90. A, cross link 91 is also pivotally connected to links 89 by the pins 90 so that when the bars 83 and 84 are moved together,

the links 89 fold up and the link 911moves transversely of the track members 87.

A similar set of lazy tong links 92 is pro-.

vided, which is similar to the lazy tong links already described, except that one end of one pair of links 93 is pivotally connected by pins 94 to the rear wall 95 of the insulated cabinet. It should be understood that the door of the cabinet is hingedly mounted to 1 bars 83 and 84 will move together and ap proach the rear wall 95 of the cabinet in folded position so that only a few inches of the door will extend beyond the outer face of the cabinet and very little floor space will be then occupied by said door.

In the forms of the invention shown in Figs. 12, 18 and 14, it is necessary to connect a cable 96 to the outer end of the door 72 by means of apin 97 so that said door may slide back beneath the bottom 98 of the cabinet without interference by the end of said cable. In order to permit thedoor to swing outwardly and downwardly about its hinge member 99, it is necessary to provide l a greater length of cable 96 than that necesrotatably mounted to the upper end of the cabinet and two movable pulleys 101 are rotatably mounted on a double pulley bracket 102. A plurality of coil springs 103 are connected at their ends to the bracket 102 and l at their lower ends to a bracket fixed on the cabinet is provided for the reception of index- VVhen the door is fully extended in trays and the door of said'cabinet is properly controlled by counterbalancing or 7 other means toqpreventits sudden dropping and breakage from its hinges, The door 'is alsopermitted" to slide under the cabinet a limited'amount to reduce the ordinarily abnormal amount of overhang and to place said door in a position for conveniently support ing the ends of trays in reference position.- The door is also locked securely in a vertical position so that the trays may not be removed from their cabinet by unauthorized persons or in case of fire. i

I would state in conclusion that while the illustrated examples constitute preferred embodiments of my invention, I do not limit myself precisely to the details herein described, since manifestly the same can be considerably varied without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims. r

Having thus described .my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent Y r 1. A. fire resisting filing' cabinet comprising "a container having a plurality of heat insulatmg walls, one of the sides of the contalner being open, a heat insulating door mounted on the container to close said open side and being movable to open said open side,-cooperating means on said container and on said door en gage able when the door is closed to'seal the container and counter-balancing means mounted within the container and connected to the door for both resiliently retaining the door in sealing relation with the container and counter-balancing the weight of the door. when opened. 7 I

2. filing cabinet comprising a container of heat insulating material having a plurality of walls, forming a compartment therein, one

of the side walls being open and one of the 3 walls of the container adjacent said open side wall having an interior recess opening to said open side, .a counter-balancing mechanism mounted in the recess of the side wall, an insulated door mounted on the cabinet for upward h-inging movement to close the open side, means connecting the door to the counterbalancing mechanism, said door being movableunder aid of the counter-balanoing mechanism to close the open side of the container and also the recess in said side wall to seal said compartment and enclose the counter balancing mechanism and connecting means 'thereln.

3. A filing cabinet comprising a container having a plurality of walls forming a compartment, oneof the side walls being open, a door normally closing said open side, said door being hinged adjacent said open side so that the top of the door maybe pivoted to a horizontal position, said door having sliding connections with SELlCl container whereby said door may be moved under said container when in a horizontal position, a peripheral sealing" flange and groove on the door and a coop crating flange and groove on-the container, 21 counter-balancing mechanism Within the compartment connected to the door to substantially counterbalance the Weight of the door to protect the lower portions of the cooperating flanges, said counter-balancing mech anism also resisting the arcuate swinging movement of the door during opening operation. v

CARL F. WOLTERS. 

